Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Delaying the lunch ride to fit the weather

We in the Denver Metro area woke up, at least here in the SE suburbs, to about an inch of powdery snow on the roads. The forecast high was 24 degrees so I did not think there'd be much melting going on.

Fortunately, being a mile closer to the sun, proved me wrong once again! :)

By Noon the main roads were clear but still wet looking. I had a workable path out of the neighborhood and temperatures were in the low teens. Not bad, but not quite good enough riding conditions yet.

I worked through lunch and by 1330 was in my riding gear and riding out of the cul-de-sac. I had visible pavement for most of the way out of the neighborhood by this time and the temperature was a brisk 23 degrees. It was still quite sunny and it did not feel as cold as the thermometer reported.

I cruised on down to the park by the intersection of Orchard and Tower roads and took the customary "short ride" shot:

Afterwards, since the roads were now dry and clear, I headed onto the new housing development I'd mentioned in the last few postings and got these two shots. I had to traverse some snow-covered pavement to get Brigitta in position but no issues were encountered. Going dead-slow helps.

You can just barely see the mountains, through the distant haze

Gorgeously clear skies eh?

I slowly made my way back out and made it back on the dry main roads with no problems. The breath mask I had crafted out of a respirator was doing a good job of keeping my visor from fogging up. There's still some tweaking to be done, and the riding today was not in the cold weather I hit yesterday either.

I am thinking it was actually freezing fog/mist that caused my visor to quickly become covered in ice during yesterday's ride. Oh well. Good lunch ride, well worth the delay.

I admire your stamina bd determination to ride as often as possible. I follow a more finely focused inner compass that points to the comfy chair when snow, ice, or traces of water are evident blow freezing temperatures. I lived in the Adirondacks for 18 years, and it was widely acknowledged that my ass was a magnet for black ice.

I avoid any accumulations of ice larger than the amount required to chill a highball and I routineluy shy away from gravel in concentrations more significant than one would find in a 10-gallon acquarium. Why? Because I am your opposite. I will drop a bike if just a hint of those two ingredients are in evidence.

The snow and ice fell late last night. The roads got slick fast. I was out at a bar, delivering a lecture on survival in the Sahara, and I drove into the snow arounf 9:30pm. At 10pm, my Suburban slid sideways in the driveway, requiring the aplication of 4WD to get up to the garage.

The road salt will begin dissolving the top lsayer of the earth's crust tomorrow. It will be twio more weeks before I'll even think of riding.